Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07D—HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
  • C07D451/00—Heterocyclic compounds containing 8-azabicyclo [3.2.1] octane, 9-azabicyclo [3.3.1] nonane, or 3-oxa-9-azatricyclo [3.3.1.0<2,4>] nonane ring systems, e.g. tropane or granatane alkaloids, scopolamine; Cyclic acetals thereof
  • C07D451/02—Heterocyclic compounds containing 8-azabicyclo [3.2.1] octane, 9-azabicyclo [3.3.1] nonane, or 3-oxa-9-azatricyclo [3.3.1.0<2,4>] nonane ring systems, e.g. tropane or granatane alkaloids, scopolamine; Cyclic acetals thereof containing not further condensed 8-azabicyclo [3.2.1] octane or 3-oxa-9-azatricyclo [3.3.1.0<2,4>] nonane ring systems, e.g. tropane; Cyclic acetals thereof
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K51/00—Preparations containing radioactive substances for use in therapy or testing in vivo
  • A61K51/02—Preparations containing radioactive substances for use in therapy or testing in vivo characterised by the carrier, i.e. characterised by the agent or material covalently linked or complexing the radioactive nucleus
  • A61K51/04—Organic compounds
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K49/00—Preparations for testing in vivo
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K51/00—Preparations containing radioactive substances for use in therapy or testing in vivo
  • A61K51/02—Preparations containing radioactive substances for use in therapy or testing in vivo characterised by the carrier, i.e. characterised by the agent or material covalently linked or complexing the radioactive nucleus
  • A61K51/04—Organic compounds
  • A61K51/0497—Organic compounds conjugates with a carrier being an organic compounds
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K51/00—Preparations containing radioactive substances for use in therapy or testing in vivo
  • A61K51/12—Preparations containing radioactive substances for use in therapy or testing in vivo characterised by a special physical form, e.g. emulsion, microcapsules, liposomes, characterized by a special physical form, e.g. emulsions, dispersions, microcapsules

Definitions

• the present invention relates to stabilised technetium and rhenium metal complex compositions comprising a radioprotectant and a radiometal complex of a tropane- tetradentate chelating agent conjugate.
• Radiopharmaceuticals comprising the stabilised metal complex compositions, and kits for the preparation of the radiopharmaceuticals are also described.
• Tropanes labelled with I, F or Tc are known as diagnostic imaging radiopharmaceuticals for brain imaging [Morgan and Nowotnik, Drug News Perspect. 12(3), 137-145 (1999)]. Tropanes are known to target the dopamine transporter in the brain, and the dopamine transporter has been implicated in several diseases including Parkinson's Disease, Parkinsonian Syndrome and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
• TROD AT- 1 is also described in US 5980860 and equivalents.
• WO 03/055879 describes chelator-tropane conjugates wherein the 6- or 7- positions of the tropane are functionalised. Kits are briefly described, but the use of radioprotectants is not disclosed.
• Technetium-99m is a radioisotope which decays with a half-life of 6.02 hours to technetium-99 ( 99 Tc).
• the radioactive decay is accompanied by the emission of a gamma ray with an energy that is near ideal for medical imaging with a modern gamma-camera.
• the decay product, 99 Tc is also radioactive and decays by jS-emission with a half-life of 2.1 xlO 5 years (to the stable isotope 99 Ru), but the radioactive emissions from 99 Tc are insufficient for medical imaging.
• Conventional 99m Tc "generators" comprise the radioisotope 99 Mo, which decays with a half-life of 66.2 hours.
• Tc and Tc technetium isotopes are chemically identical, and consequently any radiopharmaceutical preparation must be able to cope with a wide range of 99 Tc chemical content in the eluate in order to be able to function effectively over the usable lifetime of the generator. It is also the case that elutions made with a fresh 99 Tc generator are likely to have a higher radioactive concentration, and thus have a higher concentration of reactive free radicals arising from radiolysis of the solvent (water). A viable 99m Tc radiopharmaceutical preparation thus needs to be able to provide satisfactory RCP performance even when such reactive free radicals are present.
• the present invention provides improved radiometal complex compositions comprising a technetium or rhenium metal complex of a tropane-tetradentate chelating agent conjugate and a radioprotectant.
• the improved compositions exhibit more reproducible initial radiochemical purity (RCP) and improved stability post-reconstitution, so that an RCP of 85 to 90% is maintained at 6 hours post-reconstitution.
• RCP initial radiochemical purity
• the problem of unsatisfactory RCP for radiometal tropane conjugates under certain conditions of radioactivity levels, radioactive concentrations or reconstitution volumes was not recognised in the prior art. Such conditions are those that could arise under normal conditions of use of a commercial radionuclide generator, such as a 9m Tc generator.
• the present invention provides compositions comprising a radioprotectant which solve this previously unrecognised problem.
• the present invention provides a stabilised composition which comprises: (i) a metal complex of a radioactive isotope of technetium or rhenium chelated to a conjugate, wherein said conjugate comprises a tetradentate chelating agent conjugated to a tropane, and said tetradentate chelating agent forms a neutral metal complex with said radioactive isotope of technetium or rhenium; (ii) at least one radioprotectant.
• tropane has its conventional meaning, i.e. a bicyclic amine of formula (with numbering of the ring positions shown):
• amine nitrogen at the 8-position may be secondary or tertiary.
• metal complex is meant a coordination complex of the technetium or rhenium metal ion with a ligand, here the tetradentate chelating agent.
• the chelated metal complex is "resistant to transchelation", i.e. does not readily undergo ligand exchange with other potentially competing ligands for the radiometal coordination sites.
• Potentially competing ligands include the tropane moiety itself, the radioprotectant or other excipients in the preparation in vitro (e.g. antimicrobial preservatives), or endogenous compounds in vivo (e.g. glutathione, transferrin or plasma proteins).
• Suitable radioactive isotopes of technetium or rhenium include: 94 Tc, 99m Tc, 186 Re and l ⁇ 8 Re.
• a preferred such radioisotope is 99m Tc.
• tetradentate has its conventional meaning, i.e. the chelating agent has four donor atoms, each of which coordinate to the metal giving chelate rings on formation of the metal complex.
• the tetradentate chelating agent is preferably attached at the 2-, 6-, 7- or 8- positions of the tropane, and is most preferably attached at either the 2- or the 8- position of the tropane, ideally at the 2-position.
• radioprotectant is meant a compound which inhibits degradation reactions induced by radioactive emissions (e.g. redox processes), by trapping highly-reactive free radicals, such as oxygen-containing free radicals arising from the radiolysis of water.
• the radioprotectants of the present invention are suitably chosen from: ascorbic acid, ⁇ r ⁇ -aminobenzoic acid (i.e. 4-aminobenzoic acid), gentisic acid (i.e. 2,5- dihydroxybenzoic acid), gentisyl alcohol and salicyelie aeid, including salts thereof with a biocompatible cation.
• Preferred radioprotectants are ascorbic acid and para- aminobenzoic acid, or salts thereof with a biocompatible cation.
• Especially preferred radioprotectants are ascorbic acid and salts thereof with a biocompatible cation.
• a preferred such salt is sodium ascorbate.
• the radioprotectants of the present invention are commercially available to a pharmaceutical grade specification.
• biocompatible cation is meant a positively charged counterion which forms a salt with an ionised, negatively charged group, where said positively charged counterion is also non-toxic and hence suitable for administration to the mammalian body, especially the human body.
• suitable biocompatible cations include: the alkali metals sodium or potassium; the alkaline earth metals calcium and magnesium; and the ammonium ion.
• Preferred biocompatible cations are sodium and potassium, most preferably sodium.
• the technetium and rhenium metal complexes of the present invention are "neutral", i.e. any positive charge on the central metal core is balanced by the sum of the negative charge on the four metal donor atoms of the tetradentate chelating agent, to give an overall electrically neutral metal complex.
• the neutral radioactive technetium or rhenium complexes of the present invention are suitably of Formula I:
• the "linker group" (A) n is as defined below for Formula la.
• the metal complexes of Formula I are derived from tropane "conjugates".
• the tropane tetradentate chelating agent "conjugates" of the present invention are as defined in Formula la:
• m is preferably 1 or 2, and is most preferably 1; and (A) n is preferably (CR 2 ) n , where n is chosen to be 1 to 3.
• Suitable tetradentate chelating agents for technetium and rhenium which form neutral metal complexes include, but are not limited to:
• the above described ligands are particularly suitable for complexing technetium e.g.
• N 2 S 2 dithiosemicarbazone chelators are described by Arano et al [Chem.Pharm.Bull., 39, p.104-107 (1991)].
• N 2 S 2 phenylenediaminethioetherthiol chelators are described by McBride et al [J.Med.Chem., 36, p.81-6 (1993)]. Macrocyclic amidetriamine ligands and their tropane conjugates are described by Turpin et al
• Diaminedioximes are described by Nanjappan et al [Tetrahedron, 50, 8617-8632 (1994)].
• N 3 S ligands having a diamidepyridinethiol donor set such as Pica are described by Bryson et al [Inorg.Chem., 29, 2948-2951 (1990)].
• N 2 O 2 ligands having a diaminediphenol donor set are described by Pillai et al [Appl.Rad.Isot., 41, 557-561 (1990)].
• Preferred 99 Tc metal complexes of the present invention are those suitable for crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) as described by Nolkert et al [Radiochim. Acta, 63, p.205- 208 (1993)].
• Especially preferred 9 m Tc metal complexes of the present invention are 99m Tc-TRODAT-l andTechnepine.
• Preferred tetradentate chelating agents are those having an ⁇ 2 S 2 diaminedithiol or amideaminedithiol donor set of Formula II:
• E'-E 5 are each independently an R' group; each R' is H or C MO alkyl, C 3 - ⁇ o alkylaryl, C 2 . ⁇ o alkoxyalkyl, C MO hydroxyalkyl,
• C O fluoroalkyl, C 2 -io carboxyalkyl or CMO aminoalkyl, or two or more R' groups together with the atoms to which they are attached form a carbocyclic, heterocyclic, saturated or unsaturated ring, and wherein one or more of the R' groups is conjugated to the tropane; and Q is a bridging group of formula -J(CR' 2 )r ; where f is 1 or 2, and J is -CRY or C O; P and P are independently H or a thiol protecting group.
• protecting group is meant a group which inhibits or suppresses undesirable chemical reactions (e.g. oxidation of the free thiol to the corresponding disulphide), but which is designed to be sufficiently reactive that it may be cleaved from the thiol under mild enough conditions that do not modify the rest of the molecule during radiolabelling of the conjugate.
• Thiol protecting groups are well known to those skilled in the art and include but are not limited to: trityl, 4-methoxybenzyl, benzyl, tetrahydropyranyl, methyltetrahydrofuranyl (MTHF), acetamidomethyl and ethoxyethyl.
• P and P are preferably both H.
• E 1 to E 5 are preferably chosen from: H, C ⁇ - 3 alkyl, - 3 alkoxyalkyl, C ⁇ - 3 hydroxyalkyl or C 1 . 3 fiuoroalkyl. Most preferably, each E 1 to E 4 group is H, and E 5 is C 1 . 3 alkyl.
• a most particularly preferred chelator of Formula II is the N 2 S 2 diaminedithiol chelator of TRODAT-1, i.e. the chelator of Formula II where: Q is -CH 2 CH 2 - , E 1 to E 5 are all H and
• the tetradentate chelating agents of Formula II are preferably attached to the tropane via eithe ;rr the bridging group Q or the E 5 group. Most preferably, the tropane is attached via the E 5 group.
• the tropane of the present invention is a phenyl tropane of Formula III:
• R 1 is H, CM alkyl, C M alkenyl or CM fhioroalkyl
• R 2 is CO 2 R 5 , CON(R 5 ) 2 , COR 5 or C M alkyl, where each R 5 is independently H or C1.
• 3 alkyl; 5 R 3 and R 4 are independently H, CI, Br, F, I, CH 3 , C 2 H 5 , CF 3 , NO 2 ,
• R 1 is preferably C ⁇ _ 3 alkyl or C 1 - 3 fluoroalkyl.
• R 2 is preferably CO 2 CH 3 or C ⁇ - 2 alkyl.
• R 3 is preferably 4-chloro. 4-fluoro or 4-methyl, and R 4 is preferably H or CH 3 .
• R 1 is most 10. preferably CH 3 .
• the role of the linker group -(A) perennial- of Formula I is to distance the relatively bulky metal complex from the tropane, so that binding of the tropane to biological target sites (e.g. the dopamine transporter in the mammalian brain) is not 15 impaired.
• This can be achieved by a combination of flexibility (e.g. simple alkyl chains), so that the bulky group has the freedom to position itself away from the active site and/or rigidity such as a cycloalkyl or aryl spacer which orientates the metal complex away from the active site.
• linker group can also be used to modify the biodistribution of the resulting metal complex of the conjugate.
• the introduction of ether groups in the linker will help to minimise plasma protein binding.
• Preferred linker groups -(A) may also have a backbone chain of linked atoms which make up the -(A) n - moiety of 2 to 10 atoms, most preferably 2 to 5 atoms, with 2 or 3 atoms being especially preferred.
• a minimum 5 linker group backbone chain of 2 atoms confers the advantage that the chelator is well- separated from the tropane, so that any interaction is minimised.
• Non-peptide linker groups such as alkylene groups or arylene groups have the advantage that there are no significant hydrogen bonding interactions with the conjugated tropane, so 0 that the linker does not wrap round onto the tropane.
• Preferred alkylene spacer groups are -(CH 2 )q- where q is 2 to 5.
• Preferred arylene spacers are of formula: where: a and b are independently 0, 1 or 2.
• the tropane is bound to the metal complex in such a way that the linkage does not undergo facile metabolism in blood, since that would result in the metal complex being cleaved off before the labelled tropane inhibitor reached the desired in vivo target site.
• the tropane is therefore preferably covalently bound to the metal complexes of the present invention via linkages which are not readily metabolised.
• the stabilised composition of the present invention may be prepared by reaction of a solution of the radiometal in the appropriate oxidation state with the chelator conjugate at the appropriate pH in the presence of the radioprotectant, in solution in a suitable solvent.
• the radioprotectant may be supplied either together with the conjugate or the solution of the radiometal.
• the radioprotectant is pre-mixed with the conjugate, and that precursor composition is subsequently reacted with the radiometal, (as described in the second embodiment below).
• the conjugate solution may preferably contain a Iigand which complexes weakly but rapidly to the radiometal, such as glucpnate or citrate i.e. the radiometal complex is prepared by Iigand exchange or transchelation.
• the radiometal is rhenium
• the usual radioactive starting material is perrhenate, i.e. ReO " .
• the radiometal is 99m Tc
• the usual radioactive starting material is sodium pertechnetate from a 9 Mo generator.
• the metal (M) is present in the M(NII) oxidation state, which is relatively unreactive.
• the preparation of technetium or rhenium complexes of lower oxidation state M(I) to M(N) therefore usually requires the addition of a suitable biocompatible reductant.
• the “biocompatible reductant” is a pharmaceutically acceptable reducing agent such as sodium dithionite, sodium bisulphite, formamidine sulphinic acid, stannous ion, Fe(II) or Cu(I), to facilitate complexation.
• Ascorbic acid can function both as a radioprotectant and a biocompatible reductant, and hence it is possible to use quantities of ascorbic acid greater than that necessary for radioprotection alone to facilitate reduction also.
• the biocompatible reductant preferably comprises stannous i.e. Sn(II), preferably as a stannous ion or salt.
• Preferred stannous salts are stannous chloride, stannous fluoride and stannous tartrate. The stannous salt may be employed in either anhydrous or hydrated form.
• the stabilised composition of the present invention may be prepared in a stepwise manner by first forming the radiometal complex in a suitable solvent, and subsequently adding the radioprotectant.
• the radioprotectant should be added as soon as possible after formation of the radiometal complex, so that the stabilising effect of the radioprotectant is brought into effect to minimise radiolysis and possible degradation.
• Methods of preparation wherein the radioprotectant is present prior to formation of the radiometal complex are preferred.
• the concentration of radioprotectant for use in the present invention is suitably 0.3 to 5.0 millimolar, preferably 0.4 to 4.0 millimolar, most preferably 1.0 to 3.5 millimolar.
• concentration of radioprotectant for ascorbic acid, this corresponds to a suitable concentration of 50 to 900 ⁇ g/cm 3 , preferably 70 to 800 ⁇ g/cm 3 , most preferably 90 to 700 ⁇ g/cm 3 .
• the preferred concentration of an ascorbic acid or ascorbate radioprotectant is in the range 0.5 to 3.8,millimolar.
• a preferred method of preparation is the use of a sterile, non-radioactive kit as described in the third and fourth embodiments below.
• the kit provides a convenient supply of the necessary reactants at the right concentration, which needs only be reconstituted with perrhenate or pertechnetate in saline or another suitable solvent.
• the present invention provides a precursor composition useful in the preparation of the above stabilised composition, which comprises: (i) the chelator conjugate of Formula la as defined above;
• the tropane of the precursor composition is a phenyl tropane of Formula III (above). Preferred and most preferred phenyl tropanes for the precursor composition are as described above for the first embodiment. Most preferably, the conjugate of the precursor composition is of Formula IN:
• protecting group is as defined for Formula II above.
• Preferred conjugates of Formula IN are where P an P are both H.
• the conjugates used in the precursor compositions of the present invention may be prepared via the bifunctional chelate approach.
• bifunctional chelates chelating agents which have attached thereto a functional group
• Functional groups that have been attached include: amine, thiocyanate, maleimide and active esters such as ⁇ -hydroxysuccinimide or pentafluorophenol.
• Such bifunctional chelates can be reacted with suitable functional groups on the tropane to form the desired conjugate.
• Such suitable functional groups on the tropane include: carboxyls (for amide bond formation with an amine-functionalised bifunctional chelator); amines (for amide bond formation with an carboxyl- or active ester-functionalised bifunctional chelator); halogens, mesylates and tosylates (for ⁇ -alkylation of an amine-functionalised bifunctional chelator) and thiols (for reaction with a maleimide-fimctionalised bifunctional chelator). Further details of the bifunctional chelate approach are described by Arano [Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev., 37, 103 -120 (1999)] .
• the present invention provides a radiopharmaceutical which comprises the stabilised composition of the first embodiment together with a biocompatible carrier, in a form suitable for mammalian administration.
• a biocompatible carrier is a fluid, especially a liquid, in which the imaging agent can be suspended or dissolved, such that the composition is physiologically tolerable, i.e. can be administered to the mammalian body without toxicity or undue discomfort.
• the biocompatible carrier is suitably an injectable carrier liquid such as sterile, pyrogen-free water for injection; an aqueous solution such as saline (which may advantageously be balanced so that the final product for injection is either isotonic or not hypotonic); an aqueous solution of one or more tonicity-adjusting substances (e.g. salts of plasma cations with biocompatible counterions), sugars (e.g. glucose or sucrose), sugar alcohols (e.g. sorbitol or mannitol), glycols (e.g. glycerol), or other non-ionic polyol materials (e.g. polyethyleneglycols, propylene glycols and the like).
• injectable carrier liquid such as sterile, pyrogen-free water for injection
• an aqueous solution such as saline (which may advantageously be balanced so that the final product for injection is either isotonic or not hypotonic)
• the radiopharmaceuticals of the present invention may optionally further comprise an antimicrobial preservative.
• antimicrobial preservative an agent which inhibits the growth of potentially harmful micro-organisms such as bacteria, yeasts or moulds.
• the antimicrobial preservative may also exhibit some bactericidal properties, depending on the concentration.
• the main role of the antimicrobial preservative(s) of the present invention is to inhibit the growth of any such micro-organism in the radiopharmaceutical composition post-reconstitution, i.e. in the radioactive diagnostic product itself.
• Suitable antimicrobial preservative(s) include: the parabens, i.e.
• radiopharmaceuticals are suitably supplied in either a container which is provided with a seal which is suitable for single or multiple puncturing with a hypodermic needle (e.g. a crimped-on septum seal closure) whilst maintaining sterile integrity.
• a hypodermic needle e.g. a crimped-on septum seal closure
• Such containers may contain single or multiple patient doses.
• Preferred multiple dose containers comprise a single bulk vial (e.g.
• Pre-filled syringes are designed to contain a single human dose, and are therefore preferably a disposable or other syringe suitable for clinical use.
• the pre-filled syringe may optionally be provided with a syringe shield to protect the operator from radioactive dose. Suitable such radiopharmaceutical syringe shields are known in the art and preferably comprise either lead or tungsten.
• a radioactivity content suitable for a diagnostic imaging radiopharmaceutical is in the range 180 to 1500 MBq of 99m Tc, depending on the site to be imaged in vivo, the uptake and the target to background ratio.
• 99m Tc is suitable for SPECT imaging and 94m Tc for PET imaging.
• the radiopharmaceuticals of the present invention comprise the improved radiometal compositions of the first embodiment. This has the advantage that radioactive impurities are suppressed. Such radioactive impurities may either contribute to unnecessary radiation dose for the patient, or may in some cases have an adverse effect on imaging by reducing the signal to background ratio.
• the radiopharmaceuticals of the present invention may be prepared from kits, as is described in the fourth embodiment below.
• the radiometal complexes of the present invention in a biocompatible carrier may be prepared under aseptic manufacture conditions to give the desired sterile product.
• the radiopharmaceuticals may also be prepared under non-sterile conditions, followed by terminal sterilisation using e.g. gamma-irradiation, autoclaving, dry heat or chemical treatment (e.g. with ethylene oxide).
• the radiopharmaceuticals of the present invention are prepared from kits.
• the present invention provides a kit for the preparation of the radiopharmaceuticals of the present invention, which comprises:
• kits are designed to give sterile radiopharmaceutical products suitable for human administration, e.g. via direct injection into the bloodstream.
• the kit is preferably lyophilised and is designed to be reconstituted with sterile 99m Tc-pertechnetate (TcO " ) from a 99m Tc radioisotope generator to give a solution suitable for human or mammalian administration without further manipulation.
• Suitable kits comprise a container (e.g.
• the "biocompatible reductant” is defined in the first embodiment (above).
• the biocompatible reductant for the kit is preferably a stannous salt such as stannous chloride or stannous tartrate.
• radioprotectant of the kit is as defined above.
• Preferred radioprotectants correspond to those described for the stabilised composition of the first embodiment.
• the conjugate of Formula (la) comprises the amine which forms the 8-position of the tropane ring, plus possibly further amine donor atoms of the tetradentate chelating agent.
• the conjugate may optionally be used in the kit as "a salt thereof with a biocompatible counterion", i.e. an acid salt of the conjugate.
• Suitable such salts include but are not limited to: hydrochlorides, trifluoroacetates, sulphonates, tartrates, oxalates and sulphosalicyclates.
• preferred salts are the trifluoroacetate or hydrochloride salts, especially the trifluoroacetate salt.
• the non-radioactive kits may optionally further comprise additional components such as one or more transchelator(s), antimicrobial preservative(s), pH-adjusting agent(s) or filler(s).
• the "transchelator” comprise one or more compounds which react rapidly to form a weak complex(es) with technetium, then are displaced by the Iigand. This minimises the risk of formation of reduced hydrolysed technetium (RHT) due to rapid reduction of pertechnetate competing with technetium complexation.
• Suitable such transchelators are salts of a weak organic acid, i.e. an organic acid having a pKa in the range 3 to 1, with a biocompatible cation.
• Suitable such weak organic acids are acetic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, gluconic acid, glucoheptonic acid, benzoic acid, phenols or phospho ic acids, or aminocarboxylic acids, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA).
• EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
• IDA iminodiacetic acid
• NTA nitrilotriacetic acid
• suitable salts are acetates, citrates, tartrates, gluconates, glucoheptonates, benzoates, phenolates, phosphonates or edetates.
• Preferred such salts are edetates, gluconates, glucoheptonates, benzoates, or phosphonates, most preferably edetates, gluconates, glucoheptonates or phosphonates, most especially gluconates, glucoheptonates or edetates.
• Preferred edetate salts are disodium edetate and calcium edetate.
• a preferred transchelator is a gluconate or glucoheptonate salt of a biocompatible cation.
• the transchelator preferably comprises a combination of a gluconate or glucoheptonate salt, together with an edetate salt.
• an antimicrobial preservative is as defined for the radiopharmaceutical (i.e. third) embodiment (above).
• the inclusion of an antimicrobial preservative means that, once reconstituted, the growth of potentially harmful micro-organisms in the preparation is inhibited.
• pH-adjusting agent means a compound or mixture of compounds useful to ensure that the pH of the reconstituted kit is within acceptable limits (approximately pH 4.0 to 10.5) for human or mammalian administration; Suitable such pH-adjusting agents include pharmaceutically acceptable buffers, such as tricine, phosphate or TRIS [i.e. tra(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane], and pharmaceutically acceptable bases such as sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate or mixtures thereof.
• the pH adjusting agent may optionally be provided in a separate vial or container, so that the user of the kit can adjust the pH as part of a multi- step procedure.
• filler is meant a pharmaceutically acceptable bulking agent which may facilitate material handling during production and lyophilisation.
• suitable fillers include inorganic salts such as sodium chloride, and water soluble sugars or sugar alcohols such as sucrose, maltose, mannitol or trehalose.
• a preferred filler is mannitol.
• the kit is preferably lyophilised and is designed to be reconstituted with a sterile solution of 99m Tc-pertechnetate (TcO 4 " ) from a 99m Tc radioisotope generator to give a solution suitable for human or mammalian administration with the minimum of further manipulation.
• TcO 4 " 99m Tc-pertechnetate
• the desired radiopharmaceutical product is formed at room temperature in a few minutes directly from 9 m Tc generator eluate, i.e. a one-step preparation.
• An alternative possibility is a multi-step process in which it is necessary to add two or more solutions (e.g. eluate and buffer solution) to the kit. In some instances, the reaction time at room temperature may be found to be unduly long.
• Heating may therefore need to be applied to drive the radiolabelling reaction to completion in a shorter timeframe.
• the heating process may employ any suitable methodology such as: hot baths of fluid, such as water or a high-boiling oil (e.g. silicone); heating blocks; hot plates or microwave radiation; as long as the desired temperature control can be achieved.
• the reaction mixture is either allowed to cool to room temperature, or may be actively cooled (e.g. in a stream of a cooling fluid such as a gas or water) or via a heating block with integral inductive cooling.
• kits of the present invention comprise: (i) the conjugate of Formula (la) or a salt thereof with a biocompatible counterion; (ii) a radioprotectant which is chosen from ascorbic acid,/? ⁇ r ⁇ -aminobenzoic acid and, gentisic acid or biocompatible salts thereof; (iii) a biocompatible reductant which comprises stannous.
• kits comprise ascorbic acid or a biocompatible salt thereof as the reductant.
• Stannous reductants are as described in the first embodiment (above).
• kits of the present invention further comprise:
• a radioprotectant which is chosen from ascorbic acid, » ⁇ r ⁇ -aminobenzoic acid and, gentisic acid or biocompatible salts thereof;
• a biocompatible reductant which comprises stannous;
• transchelator chosen from gluconic acid, glucoheptonic acid EDTA and biocompatible salts and combinations thereof.
• the transchelator preferably comprises a combination of ethylenediammetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and biocompatible salts thereof together with a salt of gluconic acid or glucoheptonic acid.
• EDTA ethylenediammetetraacetic acid
• the kit of the present invention preferably comprises:
• TRODAT-1 kits comprise ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate as the radioprotectant and a combination of sodium gluconate and disodium edetate as the transchelator.
• a most preferred TRODAT-1 kit formulation is that given as Formulation P in Example 1.
• the present invention provides a method of preparation of the radiopharmaceutical of the present invention, which comprises formation of the metal complex of the tropane chelator conjugate in a biocompatible carrier in a form suitable for mammalian administration by either: (i) reaction of a radioactive isotope of technetium or rhenium with the precursor composition of the second embodiment in a biocompatible carrier in a form suitable for mammalian administration; or (ii) forming the metal complex of the first embodiment in a biocompatible carrier in a form suitable for mammalian administration, and then subsequently adding an effective amount of at least one radioprotectant.
• the present invention provides the use of the radiopharmaceutical of the third embodiment in a method of diagnostic imaging f the mammalian brain.
• the present invention provides a method of diagnostic imaging of the mammalian brain which comprises imaging a mammal which had previously been administered with the radiopharmaceutical of the third embodiment.
• the radiopharmaceutical is used in a method of imaging, or image processing wherein the term "previously been administered” means that any step requiring a medically-qualified person to administer the agent to the patient has already been carried out.
• Example 1 describes the materials and methods used in the comparative studies described in later Examples.
• a formulation of the present invention (Formulation P) is compared with a prior art formulation (Formulation Q).
• Example 2 describes the radiolabelling protocol and quality control methodology employed.
• Example 3 studies the effect of different 99m Tc generator elution characteristics on the performance of the kit formulations P and Q.
• 99m Tc generators are designed to be used over a period of several days, and depending on the age of the generator, and the time since the last elution, a range of characteristics of the eluate resulting from elution are obtained.
• a commercial kit must give satisfactory RCP preparations under the full range of storage and elution conditions in use by customers.
• Example 3 studies a range of four sets of elution conditions ("Elution Conditions 1 to 4). The results show that both formulations give acceptable initial RCPs (92 and 88% for P and Q respectively) under 'best case' generator elution conditions ("elution conditions 1"). Formulation P gave an RCP of 90% at 3.5 hours post-preparation, whereas for Formulation Q (prior art), the RCP fell off sharply to 77% over the same period of time. These results show that Formulation P exhibits both an improved initial RCP and an improved post-preparation stability.
• Formulation P Under generator elution conditions 2, Formulation P had an RCP of 92% immediately after preparation and 90% at 4 hours. The initial RCP for Formulation Q was 88%, but again it fell off significantly to 77% at 3.5 hours. These results demonstrate that even with generator eluate at the end of its usable shelf-life, Formulation P displays an improved initial RCP, and greater post-preparation stability than prior art Formulation Q.
• both formulations give acceptable initial RCPs (91 and 88% for P and Q respectively).
• RCP of Formulation P was still as high as 88%, whereas the RCP of Formulation Q was down to 73% after only 2 hours.
• Formulation P Under generator elution conditions 4, Formulation P exhibits an RCP of 90% after 1.5 hours and 89% at 3.5 hours post-preparation. When subjected to these most challenging eluate conditions, the RCP of prior art Formulation Q is only 76% at 1.5 hours, falling to 71% at 3.5 hours.
• Example 4 shows that p- ABA is also effective as a radioprotectant for 99m Tc-TRODAT-l preparations. Addition of p-ABA led to a significant improvement in RCP. Increasing the level o ⁇ p-ABA from 200 to 500 ⁇ g increased further the stability at both initial and 4 hours.
• Example 5 studies the effect of the volume of 99m Tc-pertechnetate used to reconstitute the kit vial ("reconstitution volume") on the RCP, at the same eluate radioactive concentration (0.75 GBq/ml).
• the Formulation P kits perform better than Formulation Q (prior art).
• the Formulation P kits continue to radiolabel well even when reconstituted with 3 GBq in 4 ml, but the RCP drops markedly when kits are reconstituted with 4.5 GBq in 6 ml.
• Example 6 studies the effect of use of an autoclave heating cycle (121°C, 30 minutes) as part of the radiolabelling procedure, since Choi et al [Nucl.Med.Biol., 26, p.461-466 (1999)] employ that vial heating methodology.
• the present experiments were typically conducted using heating via a boiling water bath, since the use of an autoclave as part of the preparation procedure is not an attractive option for a commercial product.
• a comparative study was carried out to determine if the different heating procedure might contribute to the RCP differences observed for Formulations P and Q.
• Example 6 indicates that the use of an autoclave heating cycle has a detrimental effect on the RCP of both formulations.
• Example 7 shows that the useful regional brain biodistribution properties of 99m Tc- TRODAT-1 are maintained in the presence of the radioprotectant sodium ascorbate.
• Example 8 shows that a 99 Tc kit formulation of the present invention gives satisfactory RCP over a range of eluate conditions with three different commercial 99m Tc generators.
• Example 9 shows that a Formulation P kit of the present invention can be reconstituted successfully at room temperature, using a two-step protocol.
• the radioactivity is added first, followed by a buffer solution at pH 7.4.
• the buffer raises the pH of the reaction mixture and drives the radiolabelling to completion.
• Example 1 Materials and methods.
• kit vials were prepared under the same conditions but to different formulations - that of the present invention (Formulation P), and that of the prior art Choi et al formulation (Formulation Q). All vials were stored upright, in the dark at -20 °C until required for use.
• the 99m Tc- pertechnetate eluate was obtained from Amertec IITM generators (for Examples 3 to 7), DrytecTM generators (for Examples 8 and 9), and Ultra TechnekowTM and ElutecTM generators (for Example 8).
• the kit formulations are given in Table 1:
• Formulation P contains a radioprotectant (sodium ascorbate), whereas Formulation Q does not.
• Example 2 Radiolabelling procedure and purity determination.
• each kit was reconstituted with 2 ml of sodium 99m Tc-pertechnetate solution containing 1.5 GBq ( ⁇ 10 %) of radioactivity (1.5 GBq corresponds to 2 patient doses of 740 MBq), heated in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes and then cooled for 10 minutes before RCP analysis by HPLC and ITLC. Time of analysis is reported as 'post-preparation'.
• Pall ITLC-SG sheet (part number 61886) cut into strips 20mm x 200mm and eluted with
• RCP (A+B)*((l 00-RHT)/l 00)
• A species A from HPLC
• B species B from HPLC
• RHT reduced hydrolysed technetium, species at origin from ITLC.
• Species A and Species B are the diastereomers of 99m Tc-TRODAT-l as described by
• Example 3 Comparative kit performance for different generator elution conditions.
• Kits of formulations P and Q (as described in Example 1) were reconstituted, heated and analysed in exactly the same way, as per Example 2.
• Four generator elution conditions were investigated:
• Table 2 Radiolabelling of Formulations P and Q under four different generator elution conditions.
• Kits of both formulations were reconstituted, heated and analysed as per Examples 1 and 2.
• the radioactive concentration of eluate used to reconstitute the kits was kept constant at 1.5GBq/ml for each test item and eluate reconstitution volumes of 2, 4 and 6 ml were investigated.
• Example 6 Study of the effect of heating using an autoclave.
• Table 5 Comparative RCP of Formulations P and Q following an autoclave heating cycle (121 °C, 25 min).
• Example 7 Study of the effect of an added radioprotectant on the biodistribution of 9 m Tc-TRODAT-l.
• Kit formulation P was reconstituted to give 99m Tc-TRODAT-l as described in Examples 1 and 2, which was the Test Item.
• the radiochemical purity (RCP) of the Test Item was 92% pre-injection, falling to 91% by the post-injection analysis time point.
• RCP radiochemical purity
• the ratio of the A and diastereomers (46:54) remained constant at the pre- and post- injection analysis time points.
• the percentage of the injected dose present in the blood was approximately three-fold lower for Formulation P at all the time points post-injection.
• the uptake and retention of radioactivity into the brain was similar at all except the 20 minute pi time point for both formulations.
• approximately 0.45% of the injected dose (id) was retained within the brain after administration of the radioprotectant formulation, relative to 0.29 % id after administration for the unstabilised formulation. This difference in brain uptake was reflected in the elevated percentage injected dose present in the brain regions at 20 minutes pi when expressed per gram of brain region.
• Kits of Formulation P of the present invention were reconstituted with 2 GBq of "Tc in 2.5 ml of eluate from 3 different European 99m Tc generators, heated and cooled as per Example 2 and then stored at either 5 °C or 25 °C and analysed at 0, 4 and 6 hours post- preparation. Tests were carried out on kits reconstituted with both fresh and aged eluate from 99 Tc-generators. The results are shown in Table 7 (overleaf):
• Example 9 Alternative Room Temperature Reconstitution Conditions for a Kit Formulation of the Present Invention.
• the kit of Formulation P was reconstituted in two steps. First 1.5 ml of 9 ° m Tc sodium pertechnetate solution containing 2GBq of radioactivity was added to the kit vial. Phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.4 (1 ml) was then added immediately, and the RCP determined 30 minutes after the addition of the pertechnetate solution. The results are given in Table 6:
• Table 6 RCP of a kit reconstituted via a 2-step room temperature protocol.
• Table 7 RCP data for Formulation P kits reconstituted with fresh and aged eluate from 3 European 99m Tc-generators.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Epidemiology (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Pharmacology & Pharmacy (AREA)
• Proteomics, Peptides & Aminoacids (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Medicines Containing Antibodies Or Antigens For Use As Internal Diagnostic Agents (AREA)
• Medicinal Preparation (AREA)
• Medicines That Contain Protein Lipid Enzymes And Other Medicines (AREA)
• Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)

Priority Applications (10)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=32605351

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (16)

Cited By (9)

Families Citing this family (23)

Citations (9)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2003
  • 2003-02-07 EP EP03002809A patent/EP1444990A1/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2004
  • 2004-02-09 CA CA002514307A patent/CA2514307A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-02-09 MX MXPA05008356A patent/MXPA05008356A/es unknown
  • 2004-02-09 JP JP2006525001A patent/JP2006528205A/ja active Pending
  • 2004-02-09 ES ES04709267T patent/ES2355100T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-02-09 US US10/544,736 patent/US20070020177A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-02-09 RU RU2005123799/15A patent/RU2005123799A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-02-09 KR KR1020057014518A patent/KR20050103221A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-02-09 AU AU2004210191A patent/AU2004210191B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2004-02-09 CN CNB2004800091645A patent/CN100548387C/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-02-09 WO PCT/GB2004/000443 patent/WO2004069285A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2004-02-09 BR BR0407056-9A patent/BRPI0407056A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2004-02-09 DE DE602004029983T patent/DE602004029983D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-02-09 EP EP04709267A patent/EP1590007B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-02-09 AT AT04709267T patent/ATE487498T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2005
  • 2005-08-05 NO NO20053754A patent/NO20053754L/no not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2005-08-22 ZA ZA200506728A patent/ZA200506728B/en unknown
• 2011
  • 2011-03-29 JP JP2011071532A patent/JP2011132258A/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (10)

Non-Patent Citations (12)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events